Solange Farkas appointed to the international jury of the Venice Art Biennale
Solange Farkas has been appointed to the international jury of the 2026 Venice Art Biennale
The founder of Videobrasil is part of the jury appointed by Koyo Kouoh, alongside Elvira Dyangani Ose, Giovanna Zapperi, Marta Kuzma, and Zoe Butt
The La Biennale di Venezia Foundation has just announced the jury for the 61st International Art Exhibition, which opens on May 9. Titled In Minor Keys, this edition was conceived by Cameroonian curator Koyo Kouoh and, following her untimely death in 2025, is being led by her curatorial team, consisting of Gabe Beckhurst Feijoo, Marie Hélène Pereira, Rasha Salti, Siddhartha Mitter, and Rory Tsapayi.
Appointed by Kouoh, the international jury is made up of Solange Oliveira Farkas (president), founder and artistic director of Associação Cultural Videobrasil; Zoe Butt, curator, writer and educator, founder of “in-tangible institute” and artistic director of “deCentral”, Thailand; Elvira Dyangani Ose, curator and artistic director of the Public Art Abu Dhabi Biennial; Marta Kuzma, curator, contemporary art theorist and Professor at the Yale School of Art; Giovanna Zapperi, art historian, critic and Professor at the University of Geneva. The awards ceremony will take place in Venice on the evening of May 9.
In Minor Keys is an invitation to “shift to a slower gear and tune in to the frequencies of the minor keys. Because, though often lost in the anxious cacophony of the present chaos raging through the world, the music continues. The songs of those producing beauty in spite of tragedy, the tunes of the fugitives recovering from the ruins, the harmonies of those repairing wounds and worlds”, as Koyo Kouoh described in her curatorial text.
ABOUT SOLANGE FARKAS
With a career of more than four decades, Solange Oliveira Farkas is the founder of the Associação Cultural Videobrasil, which maintains a significant collection of video and video art and offers an ongoing program of cultural activities. Her work focuses on the preservation, promotion, and dissemination of art from the Global South and the building of international collaborative networks. Farkas served as artistic director of the Videobrasil Biennial (1983–2024) and as chief curator of the Museum of Modern Art of Bahia (2007–2010). Her curatorial career spans major international events, including the Sharjah Biennial (United Arab Emirates) and Dak’Art (Senegal), as well as group and solo exhibitions. She frequently serves on international juries and advisory boards, including the Sharjah Biennial, the Rencontres de Bamako, and the Nam June Paik Award. In 2017, she was honored by the Montblanc Arts Patronage for her career. She is currently a board member of the International Biennial Association (IBA).
Solange Oliveira Farkas and Koyo Kouoh met in the early 2000s and have since built a strong relationship based on professional collaboration and friendship. As a result of this partnership, Koyo Kouoh curated Senegal’s National Exhibition at the Pan-African Contemporary Art Exhibition, produced by Videobrasil in 2005; and in 2013, she returned to Brazil as a juror at the 18th Festival Sesc_Videobrasil—in addition to countless informal collaborations over the past 20 years. “Koyo not only illuminated the art world with her unique vision and unparalleled talent, but she made art a space for dialogue and transformation. Her impact on art and on the lives of those who were fortunate enough to know her will never be forgotten,” notes Farkas.
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